When Ken Rensink was 19 years old, he enlisted in the US Army Reserves and completed training.

The day after he returned home, he fell asleep at the wheel of his car and was in an accident that almost took his life.

Now, almost 30 years later, he’s teaching special education to 11th and 12th graders in Williams, California.

Ken came to StoryCorps with his friend Laurel Hill-Ward to talk about how surviving this accident has influenced his teaching.

Originally aired October 5, 2012 on NPR’s Morning Edition.